Furniture interior finishing sorta newbie question TIA

OK - I did do a google search and read some of the discussion but I did not find my specific question answered.

Is it typical to finish the interior of a piece of furniture? I saw discussion that you can use, for instance, a spit coat of shellac on the insides of drawers. My application is a sofa table / hall table. two drawers. Pretty basic. I am using BLO and shellac finish. Should I finish the interior, drawer runners, drawer sides and drawer interiors? I know I could. What's typical? BLO/Shellac on seen parts and shellac only elsewhere? BLO only on unseen parts? What say you?

Thanks

Reply to
No
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I'm by no means an expert, but I would say you could do shellac on the inside so you get something to seal the wood at least partially, so it doesn't expand a lot more on one side than the other, potentially causing warping. It would also protect it a little more if something (non-alcoholic) gets spilled in the drawer somehow. And shellac is pretty easy to apply. What kind of wood are you using? If it's plywood or MDF or something like that, I wouldn't worry about expansion, but MDF or hardboard are a lot more susceptible to water damage if they do get wet. If the piece isn't assembled yet, you could think about finishing the wood (minus the glue areas) before you put it together, if that'd be easier (some here might disagree). I realized that after I painstakingly finished into corners on my first few projects. Good luck, Andy

Reply to
Andy

Yes, on good work - but almost never with the same finish as is used on the show-wood.

I use a light coat of shellac, applied with a 1/2" artist's paintbrush (synthetic bristles). Blonde or button shellac, depending on the timber.

I did once make the mistake of using "lemon oil" (made from lemongrass) inside a coffer. It _stank_ ! Not unpleasantly, but certainly overpoweringly. I'm not using that again. I had to stick handfuls of fresh lavender in there to try and tone it down a bit.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

Thanks Andy for the fast reply. The piece is assembled. Its Cherry, some with figure, and Australian Lacewood accents. The drawer sides, slides and interior parts are also cherry. The drawer bottoms are QS white oak (Its what I had laying around) glued up panels. My leaning was to just do a thinned out shellac, one coat, on the interior parts, and inside/outside of the drawers. Do my BLO/Shellac on the visible parts. What has be a bit concerned is the drawer operations. I am not using mechanical commercially available drawer slides. My drawers just sit on wood runners with pieces to keep them straight and prevent tipping. Things slide pretty nicely now w/o finish. There is a bit of play but I do not want to negatively impact the drawer operations if I shellac them. I cant imagine putting on the shellac so think that the drawers wouldn't fit anymore, really what I was a bit concerned with is if the would slide as efficiently. Maybe they would slide better, I guess I'll see.

Thanks again and Merry Christmas

"Andy" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

Reply to
No

Generally I don't finish the interior portions of my projects. This includes a solid cherry cabinet in the bathroom and chests of drawers.

The exceptions are things like the armoire used as an entertainment center and a bookcase. Those things have interiors that are usually seen.

The choice is yours but I don't think you need to.

Reply to
George Max

So many different opinions! I finish the inside the same as the outside. It is not a big deal to do (since I don't bother about being neat) and supposedly prevents problems from the two sides absorbing moisture differently. But if I put 4 coats of varnish on the outside, I will only put one or two on the inside. You can take these things too far.

Reply to
Toller

It is typical on the better grade of furniture to finish the drawers so that the pores are filled but not to the degree that you begin to develop a shine.

Do not finish the runners. They should be waxed. You should first finish them with hot wax that will fill the grain and then with a coat of cold wax that can be buffed to provide a good shine.

I do not like to use BLO for the interior of drawers, as it tends to becomes sticky, and much prefer shellac, which dries quickly, builds quickly, and tells you when you should stop.

BLO and its cousins will interact in bad ways with some things that are stored in drawers.

Shellac will not do this.

Tom Watson - WoodDorker tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (email)

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Reply to
Tom Watson

Thanks Andy and Merry Christmas. I think I will do a spit coat of shellac.

Reply to
No

Thanks George - Seems the consensus, and my leaning and now preference is to do a light finish on the inside. Thanks for your reply and have a Merry Christmas.

Reply to
No

Opinions are why this group is so valuable (and somewhat dangerous too). Looks like I will be doing a bit o shellac in the insides. No BLO as per Tom. Thanks for your reply and have a merry Christmas.

Reply to
No

And the winner is.... Tom! Thanks Tom - your post is the one I plan on following. BLO where it shows, # coats TBD, followed by a spit coat of shellac everywhere except the runners, followed by shellac from the can on seen parts until the finish and sheen SWMBO desires is achieved. Wax drawer runners as described. Now, I need to get busy so santa can have this under the tree! (BLO already dry) Thanks again and merry Christmas.

Reply to
No

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